New Ulm weekly review., 1887-09-28
HE STORY OF A GAMBLER.

THE STORY OF A GAMBLER.
Overcome at Last BY Hard Luck, He Seeks
Tragic End.
Long Branch Cor. Philadelphia Times.
The change in the temperature has
not eliminated the crowds who still
Ii. ger here. Every evening tho New
York boat brings back again thesame
faces, the strayed revelers OF Wall
street, who 6nd in the music, theraces,
the hops, the roulette wheel and in
green baize tables of Phil and john
Daily q rekindling of the fires which
have run low during the dog days
along the Barbary coast of Wall
street. Thousands take in the fever
ish excitements ofLong Branch quasi
rest-a training school for the next
day, when they show up in good form
at 10 A. NJ. in New York, ready for
the great game in Wall street, where
people sell short or besiege Russell
Sage's Offices tor puts and calls.
On the soutl. side OF the West end
piazza the othe, night sat John Pom
dir, still a New York broker, with a
comfortable balance in bank. Hehas
tried all the games from poker and
seven up down to keno and, last of
all, cribbage, and is not much the
worse Tor wear for his participation
in some OF the greatest games of
atoo Al
continent. The clover blossom in
Pondir's buttonhole looked dropping
and faint with the heat of the day.
and the still alive and alert New York
broker tossed aside a. cigar he had
smoked to the bitter end and
seemed in a reminiscent mood.
l asked: do you remember Ed.
Hlllson, g. wool broker, of Chestnut
street? We both met thirty years ago
at Joe Halls game in Walnut street,
Philadelphia.
"Indeed I do," replied Pondir, "and
thereby hangs a tale. No man ever
lived who was fonder Of all games OF
chanca than poor Hillson, the wool
broker. He lived in Philadelphia for
forty years and was, think, from
Alsace Or Lorraine, for he was GER
tainly half F'renchman. 49,
"Hillson never had the Napoleonic
courage or nerve needed to make a
great gambler, but with him it was
the fatal passion for cards.
"Men like Thomas A. Scott, all
nerve, with a will like Bessemer steel,
make gamblers (when they do playl
OF whom the professional gamester is
always in terror. And l heard it told
by prominent Philadelphian that
about the time the Girard House was
built there was big game of faro CO.
Ing on there and Mr.. Scott sauntered
in saying he didn't mind winning or
losing $4,000. Helost that amount
in three hours and walked out as un-
concerned as if he had lost a pass to
San Francisco.
"With such men gambling is an ac-
cident. 1t never becomes the one alb
sorblng passion OF life. Woe to the
man who becomes this passions slave.
With Hillson it was the one grand
passion, and faro was his favor1te
play, a game always full of fascination
to men Of high intellectual endow-
ments. Hillson seemed to beerudge
the hours. spent in the ordinary avo.
cations OF business, albeit he was
recognized as the best wool buyer on
the street.
He had aplomb; was possessed of q
keen intellect and a wonderful fund Of
information, but he could never re-
sist the sight OF a pack OF cards.
"Hillson had no domestic ties of
which anybody knew. He paid his
bills promptly, and his accounts were
always closed correctly with the
houses for whom he worked on com
mission.
He was satisfied with small win
nings, but it is the continual dropping
which wears away the granite shaft.
In 1870 he found himself $1,000
behind. Hillson disappeared from
Philadelphia for one year. Nobody
made any search for him, as there
seemed to be o. general impression
that the little Alsatian- Frenchman
would come out cat-bird' las they
say out West). And he did. In al
most a year to day from
his disappearance Hiilson ap-
peared, full of chic, bright,
breezy, well-dressed and with a
heavy bank balance to his credit. He
paid all his outstanding bills and no
questions were asked. His story to
his intimates was that he had but
$500 when he reached Paris, and that
he could not resist the temptation to
take run over to Monte Carlo. He
first purchased a return ticket to
America, avowing that he was not
AFRAID to face his creditors, but only
waited for his luck to turn. Hillson
said he had S4OO cash LETT. He put
some 100 francs on the red. It won.
lie put the winnings, 100 francs, be-
tween the 0 and the 90, which pays
~ Tor /. He won He ricked ont